


Sunflower in a Dying Field

by justformynips



Category: Naruto
Genre: Baby Badasses, F/M, Mental Health Issues, Multi, My First Fanfic, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Prodigies, Team as Family, Worldbuilding, bad at these tag thingys, i will be adding more tags, just not now, new kekkei genkai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 06:47:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28899135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justformynips/pseuds/justformynips
Summary: When her precious daughter came home her graduation day smelling of dango and sweat and looking like hell, Yume mustered up a smile and told her she was proud. And she was proud, but more than anything did she wish her daughter wasn’t special, wasn’t a prodigy, wasn’t being sent into a war before she even turned ten. Yume knew she could only continue to pray and hoped she prepared her daughter for their harsh world, because come daylight Yume was being shipped out to the frontlines of Grass Country. She’s not a fool, this would be the last time she would be seeing her precious daughter. Afterall Yume knew she wasn’t special, she was just another medic-nin that was going to die on the battlefield.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & Original Female Character(s), Uchiha Shisui & Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 10





	Sunflower in a Dying Field

She was three years old when she knew she was _special_. She was four years old when they tested her and determined her path in life. Sugimoto Himari was five years old and rapidly rising through her academy years. What took a normal child a week to understand, she understood in minutes.

Math, language, physics, history all came easily to the young girl. But what came easier was the effortless kunai throwing, chakra manipulation, and basic taijutsu. Sure, the young prodigy had a few hiccups in her ninjutsu and maybe her trap making was subpar, but the Hidden Leaf gave little regard to that in times of war. Himari was a genius that needed to be utilized. She was a weapon that needed to be tested… or broken. Whatever produced the best shinobi for the village and afterwards they could learn to pick up and mend the pieces.

She was two years old when her mother told her they were a special family. Their family was not the type to churn out prodigies like the Uchiha, but they were special in a different way. Their chakra was different because it could be manipulated outside of their bodies. Like an extension of themselves, the Sugimoto clan could create shields and swords, kunai and shuriken from just their chakra similar to the famed Uzumaki chakra chains. These tools could be just as strong as their steel counterparts or as weak as origami representations depending on how much chakra was poured into them.

They had to be careful to control their chakra because it showcased their emotions for everyone to see. A happy Sugimoto sparkled, and their chakra swirled around them, impishly playing with their clothes. An angry Sugimoto thundered, with their chakra looming and suffocating. It crashed down like waves in the ocean and was just as unrelenting. A sad Sugimoto drooped, their chakra pooling around them and weighing heavily on those near.

With their chakra constantly expressing themselves, all within the clan learned how to contain themselves. They trained early on in chakra control and made games out of wall walking, water walking, leaf-sticking, hide and seek, and they knew their chakra like the back of their hands. But the Sugimoto clan was not famed for anything beyond their pretty chakra tricks and were considered irrelevant by most standards until Hiyori.

Sugimoto Hiyori was a pioneer in the clan. Himari’s great aunt could wield her chakra in devasting whips that struck fear in the hearts of thousands in the Warring Clan Period and the First Shinobi War. She was the woman who brought their clan to the same playing fields as the Nara, Akamichi, Inuzuka, and Hatake. Their clan couldn’t compete with the Senju, Uchiha, or Uzumaki, but they became well-known and coveted enough to be invited into Konohagakure. Hiyori brought the Sugimoto name into the spotlight and died for it.

The Sugimoto Clan was a small clan, similar to the size of the Hatake. They too shared the same fate of being dwindled down a precious few members. They had fifty members when they first joined the village and slowly but surely, they dwindled down to five members. Himari, her mother, her aunt, and her two cousins. And with a Third Shinobi War just beginning, their already small clan was expected to shrink even more.

Her mother was a career chunin that worked in the hospital before being called out into the field. She spent long months away from Himari, but the young girl was always cared for by her aunt. Honestly, Himari didn’t know she had a father until she was three years old when her mother took her to the Memorial Stone and outlined one of the many names.

_Imai Hidaka_

Himari would never know him past the few memories her mother would gift her with, and the unforgiving kanji carved into stone.

She knew that her fate would probably be similar to her father, to her great aunt, to her many forgotten family members. Himari knew from a young age that being a ninja spelled one certain thing. Death. But she was prepared for it. She was prepared to squeeze countless memories and a lifetime of experiences into her short life. What she wasn’t prepared for was her genin team.

* * *

“Team Six! Uchiha Shisui, Yamashiro Kato, Sugimoto Himari! Team sensei, Hyuga Hakaru!” her Academy sensei yelled out.

Himari could already feel her mouth twitching downwards. To be stuck with the sunny prodigy, an average unknown, and an uptight Hyuga was a rough fate for anyone let alone a six-year-old.

Even their appearances were so polar opposite of one another. Yamashiro was tall and gangly even for a boy of nine with a mop of gravity-defying dirty blonde hair, murky green eyes, and a tan showing hours spent training under the hot Fire Country sun. He was unassuming at first glance, but Himari could tell from his stance that he held a core of steel under his meek deposition.

And then she glanced at the young Uchiha and almost grimaced. He was also tall for his age, easily a good four inches taller than herself. But where Yamashiro was gangly, the Uchiha was filled out with muscles that shouldn’t be on one so young. They were proof of his training, even if his skin was milky white and showed no evidence of being under the sun. But it was his face that put Himari on edge. The Uchiha was smiling like the cat that got the canary and his onyx eyes glimmered with mischief. 

But she’d make do, she always did. At least her sensei was prompt and arrived as soon as her academy instructor finished speaking.

“Come with me,” a smooth voice rolled out from the beautiful Hyuga. As soon as they were out in the hallway her sensei spoke again.

“You all will meet me in twenty minutes at training field 59. Promptly or there will be consequences.” And with that her sensei shunshined away with a flurry of leaves that got whisked into their faces.

“What a nice guy,” muttered the Yamashiro and Himari couldn’t help but nod along.

“That was so freaking cool!” Uchiha turned his big eyes to her and then Yamashiro, “Do you think he’d teach me that?” He let out a short cackle and then grabbed their hands and started to run to training field 59.

Himari tried to tug her hand out of his, but the little bugger wouldn’t let go with those death traps he called hands. She just had to try to keep up with his speed. As Himari looked over at Yamashiro she could feel a smile start to spread across her face as she watched him struggle to match their pace and the horror in his eyes when glancing at the Uchiha’s hands.

“Uchiha-san! Please let go of my hands!” Yamashiro finally let out. Even though he was older by a few more years then the two of them, he was polite and respectful. Himari could tell she would get along with him.

“Ne, Kato-kun you can call me Shisui. We’re teammates now and there’s no need for all that stuffy talk, right?” Shisui replied, even though he still kept their hands held tight in his grip.

“Shisui-san let go of my hands…please,” Yamashiro was polite down to his core it would seem. Himari could feel the laugh bubble out of her.

“Yamashiro-san, Uchiha-san wouldn’t let go of our hands even if Hokage-sama fell out of the skies in front of us right now,” Himari laughed as they continued their mad dash towards the training fields.

“Ne, Himari-chan why are you all stuffy too? You know I just told Kato-kun to knock it off, are you trying to suffocate me with stuffiness?” Shisui whined and waved their hands around wildly.

And that’s how they arrived at training field 59. Wildly waving hands and out of breath. What an impression to make on their icy sensei. 

“Eighteen minutes and fifty-two seconds,” that was all her sensei spoke before launching into an attack.

The three of them quickly broke apart and Himari silently marveled at how quickly Shisui let go of their hands after all that nonsense. She didn’t have much time to pounder anything else when her sensei made two clones and immediately engaged in a taijutsu battle. She vaguely noticed her teammates being herded in different directions and knew it was impossible to help them in this fight.

It seemed like her sensei wanted to evaluate them separately, maybe to take stock of their skills? Either way Himari knew she wouldn’t be of much use to them and they weren’t in any position to help her. As she ducked a swipe at her head, Himari knew she needed to stop her wandering thoughts and focus. All she could do was duck, block, and evade his glowing hands. His hand touched her shoulder and then she couldn’t feel her right arm anymore.

‘Ok, don’t let him touch me with those hands,’ thought Himari as she twisted into a back handspring to avoid a high kick and then a jab to her legs. Abruptly her sensei threw a kunai at her face that she knew she wouldn’t be fast enough to avoid. A blue, glowing shield appeared centimeters from her face and the kunai struck it before it fell to the ground. Her shield shimmered out of the air as soon as the kunai stopped.

“Ah the Sugimoto bloodline finally making an appearance,” her sensei murmured to himself. He sounded vaguely interested but Himari was too busy shielding her body from the incoming projectiles to pay attention.

Her chakra reserves were slightly above average for her age and gender, but Himari had the advantage of excellent chakra control. All Sugimotos were extremely aware of their chakra because they had to learn to control it at an early age. Himari was taught chakra control exercises earlier than most in her clan because of their dwindling numbers and the war. One never knows what will become of a clan in shinobi wars, the Senju are a great example of that.

Himari was primarily defending herself from the onslaught her sensei was sending her. She knew that her chances of attacking were growing slimmer and slimmer and she waited for an opening. Himari didn’t hold out much hope in her sensei leaving himself open for attack, he was a Hyuga after all. The only thing she could do was maybe distract him. Good thing Sugimotos had the best distractions.

The air around Himari suddenly shimmered with her chakra. It sparkled in the sunlight and twisted itself into patterns and shapes. The chakra was beautiful and even the most focused ninja would stop to stare at the magnificent sight of shimmering thunderclouds of chakra. It was billowing out around them in clouds, with streaks of the lightest shade of blue chakra mimicking lighting. A hand-sized dancer whirled over a streak of lightning before dipping back below a cloud. A kitten tugged playfully at streak like a cat with a spool of yarn when it was devoured by another plume of her chakra.

Himari saw her sensei’s mouth part and his eyes widen at the display. He had never seen chakra dance and tell a story like Himari’s was twisting itself into. This was one of the only times he wished his doujustu wasn’t the Byakugan, but the Sharingan to immortalize this scene of beauty. He couldn’t help but be enchanted by the sight, but he was quickly brought back to reality.

Himari knew her trick would only work once against her sensei and took full advantage of his distraction. As soon as she started to shape and spread her chakra, she created a thin whip. It was only a half inch in width at its widest, but Himari knew from experience that the thinner the whip, the more it hurt.

Her whip cracked against her sensei’s torso. But before it could fully wrap around him or do any serious damage, he substituted himself with a nearby tree branch and started throwing projectile after projectile her way. Himari knew her only opening was over and from there on out it was a mad dodging game of survival.

Himari could feel her chakra reserves dropping lower and lower until the only shields she was making were paper thin. Finally, a kunai ripped through her shields and she was too tired to completely dodge it. It ripped a cut along her right thigh and before Himari could blink, her Hyuga sensei was behind her with a kunai to her throat.

“Four minutes and twenty-eight seconds. Wrap your cut and meet me by the stream with your teammates,” and her sensei shunshined away. Himari could tell that was going to be standard for him. She quickly wrapped her cut thigh with extra bandages from her pouch and jogged to the stream about an eighth of a mile away from her fight. She didn’t initially realize how far away her other teammates were or how big the training field really was.

Himari slowed to a stop and took stock of her other teammates. Yamashiro looked exhausted and his arms bore the small bruises one got from fighting a Hyuga. She wasn’t surprised that he only engaged their sensei in taijutsu. The Hyuga were renown for using only their Gentle Fist taijutsu style. However, Shisui looked different. His bouncy curls were plastered to his head and he was soaked head to toe. So, it seemed that their sensei either dropped him in the stream or was water nature.

“Shisui-san did you go for a swim?” Himari couldn’t help but tease her genin teammate. It was worth it from his sputter and severe blush. But before he could come up with a retort their sensei cut in.

“You all pass,” Himari didn’t even know that they could fail! “Introductions are in order, I suppose, Uchiha go first,” the Hyuga drawled out in a surprisingly bored voice.

“Ohayo! My name is Uchiha Shisui! I like sweets, learning new jutsu, and playing with my younger cousins. I dislike formalities, winter, and spiders. My dream is to become the fastest shinobi living! And I suppose my hobbies are training, babysitting my cousins, and making new friends!” Shisui spit out so fast Himari wondered if he practiced saying it in the mirror.

Hakaku-sensei hummed and tilted his head to Yamashiro encouraging him to start his own introduction.

“O-Ohayo. My name is Yamashiro Kato. My likes are… dango, training, and reading. My dislikes are… loud people, poisons, and being too hot. My dream for the future is to become a combat medic ninja. My hobbies include cooking, training, and reading about the human body,” Kato finished a lot more confidently than he started. Himari wondered why he was so interested in medicine as many boys never bothered with it, much less aspired to become specialized in the healing arts.

Himari knew it was her turn before her sensei even had to nod his head in her direction.

“Ohayo. My name is Sugimoto Himari. My likes are flowers, dogs, and yakitori,” Himari raised an eyebrow at the grimace Shisui made but continued speaking, “My dislikes are unnecessary conflicts, the color purple, and insects. My dream for the future is to live to twenty-five. My hobbies are training, helping out my oba-san, and learning about history,” Himari read through history scrolls and books like an Akamichi ate chips. She supposed it was a boring activity to most, but everyone could learn a lot from past histories.

Her sensei nodded towards them and continued in his bored drawl of his, “My name is Hyuga Hakaru and I will be your sensei. I enjoy playing go, tending to my bonsai, and reading. I dislike tardiness, seals, and fungi. My dreams for the future are to survive this war and start a family. My hobbies include several things. Now that those formalities are over, you all are to report for training at 6 o’clock every morning to training ground 82. I will see you then,” and Hakaru-sensei once again shunshined away from them.

Himari didn’t mind his early end to the day. He claimed them, he was now Hakaku-sensei and not just the Hyuga or sensei. Himari knew that if she had more chakra it would be vibrating in the air with her excitement and joy at having her own genin sensei. She did it, she passed, and now she has a team.

“He seems like a busy dude,” her sunny Shisui brought Himari out of her thoughts, “You guys up for some lunch?” After hearing their easy affirmations, Shisui once again took their hands and dragged his two new teammates away to the nearest dango stand.

Himari watched her two teammates and knew this was the beginning of something great deep in her soul.

* * *

Sugimoto Yume always knew her daughter was _special_. She was such an easy baby that Yume wondered what she did in her past life to be blessed with a baby who rarely fussed or cried through the long hours of the night. But then her husband died on a mission gone wrong when Himari was only six months old. Yume knew the gods were balancing out her luck because no shinobi could have the perfect family and anyone who thought that was simply a fool.

Yume carried on through her heartbreak, she had a precious baby girl to look after. Himari really was an easy baby and an easy toddler. She smiled and cooed her way into many strangers’ hearts and wedged her way so deeply into Yume’s own heart that nothing Himari could ever do would remove her from there.

Yet, Yume worried about her only child. Himari was special in a way that you didn’t want to be in a ninja world. She was smart, learning to talk at only seven months old. And she advanced physically faster than any other baby Yume saw, taking her first precious steps when she was only four months old. But what really worried Yume was the shimmer her daughter started giving off when she was a few weeks short of one-year-old.

It was unheard of any Sugimoto to start expressing their chakra until well into their third year. Even the legendary Hiyori was rumored to start showing signs of their bloodline limit at two-years-old. And this was a full year earlier than even the greatest of the Sugimotos. Yume knew she couldn’t protect her daughter from the bloody fate that was in store for her, but she could prepare Himari in the best way she knew how.

Yume began training her beloved daughter in chakra control exercises in hopes that she would be able to wield their bloodline limit unlike any before her. Himari loved to play with her chakra shaping it into all sorts of things when they first started to train. Yume would often come back from her hospital shift to Himari playing in her room with swirling patterns of chakra and little figures dancing around her. Not all things last forever though.

Himari grew into a rather serious child, ever observant of the life around her. Tensions around the village grew as war approached them and Yume’s daughter in turn became more serious about her training. It didn’t completely change her daughter’s charming nature, just dampened it.

And then Himari joined the Academy and Yume knew her sunflower child’s fate was sealed forever. It wasn’t just her clan that knew the young girl was _special_. A prodigy they all whispered behind hands. Sure enough, Himari rocketed through her studies and graduated at the top of her class at only six-years-old and all Yume could feel was dread. The war was upon them and her baby girl was getting ready to face shinobi with more experience, more power, and more talent than her.

When her precious daughter came home her graduation day smelling of dango and sweat and looking like hell, Yume mustered up a smile and told her she was proud. And she was proud, but more than anything did she wish her daughter wasn’t _special_ , wasn’t a prodigy, wasn’t being sent into a war before she even turned ten. Yume knew she could only continue to pray and hoped she prepared her daughter for their harsh world, because come daylight Yume was being shipped out to the frontlines of Grass Country. She’s not a fool, this would be the last time she would be seeing her precious daughter. Afterall Yume knew she wasn’t _special_ , she was just another medic-nin that was going to die on the battlefield.

The morning after her daughter’s graduation, Sugimoto Yume kissed her daughter on the forehead and told her to be brave and be proud, because Himari was her sunflower child and so very, very _special_. That was the last glimpse the mother-daughter duo had of each other. But Yume had faith in her precious daughter and greeted the battlefield with a smile and died on the same battlefield still wearing her smile knowing her daughter would be ok, she had to be.

**Author's Note:**

> My first work so any constructive criticism will be appreciated (I am delicate tho so not too harsh) if anyone wants to beta just lmk and hopefully we can crank out this bad boy!!
> 
> I am a really busy person so I will be updating randomly, but I'll probably be editing a TON more because I hate feeling like it's a trash story. Uhhhh otherwise enjoy this hodge-podge story I whipped up :)


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